Austin Jackson, Ian Kennedy and the Other Ex-Yankees

Every once in a while it's good to look back at the ex-Yankees and check in on how they are doing. Last off-season featured a lot of movement and turnover, especially for a team that had won the World Series the previous year. Let's start with the Curtis Granderson trade and work our way through and after each player I'll add if the Yankees miss him or not.

Austin Jackson - Jackson may be the best prospect the Yankees have traded in a while. Although he's come back down to earth since his early-season breakout, he's still hitting .308/.352/.412 with a .347 wOBA and 10 steals. His .418 BABIP suggests that average could continue to come down (and his past month has been pretty atrocious at the bat), but even if he does, Jackson is backing it up with Gold Glove defense. His catch in the 9th inning of the Armando Gallaraga near-perfect game stands out, but John Dewan just came out with his top defenders in 2010 and it shows that Austin Jackson has been the best defensive outfielder in baseball*. The Yankees have had the benefit of not regretting many trades in the past 15 years but this one may turn out to be on they regret. Definitely miss. Picture from MLive.com

*Side Note: A lot of us have seen an improved defensive effort from Robinson Cano, but his inclusion on this list  (#8 in all of baseball) shows that his defense has actually been excellent so far in 2010.

Ian Kennedy - IPK is one of those classics of "would he actually have succeeded pitching in the AL East?" I don't think so. But Kennedy has come back from aneurysm surgery and has proven to be a valuable addition to the Diamondbacks team. His 14 game started is tops in the majors and although he's 3-4, he's put up a 3.57 ERA and a solid 2.48 SO:BB ratio. ESPN's Buster Olney wrote this morning that other than Justin Upton, Kennedy is the only untouchable player on the Diamondbacks team. That's pretty lofty status. Alas, some of the stats may be inflated by good luck and an unattainable pace. Kennedy is on pace to throw 219 innings after never throwing more than 39.2 innings in the Majors before and only reaching his previous high of 165 in 2007 (combined between every single level of baseball). The larger problem is that Kennedy's FIP (4.78), xFIP (4.28) and unusually low BABIP (.259) suggests that there is a correction in ERA coming at some point as well. And in his one American League start (against Boston yesterday) Kennedy got charged with 6 runs in 6 innings. Miss only because of lack of depth. Picture from AZCentral

Phil Coke - The third part of the Granderson deal, Coke has enjoyed a good deal of success in the Tigers bullpen. He's 4-0 so far on the season with a 3.18 ERA and turned around his home run issue from last season (he gave up 10 last year, 1 so far this year). Coke's FIP (3.41) seems to make it possible that his ERA could continue at this point, but when you factor in the home run decrease, his xFIP of 4.15 puts him more in line with last year's ERA. Even if his ERA jumps up a bit, Coke has still been a valuable piece to the Tigers bullpen and a missing piece for the Yankees. Miss in the 'pen.

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Hal Steinbrenner, Phil Hughes, Jack-O and Other Yankees Links

• Peter Abraham on Hal Steinbrenner: "The Yankees once had the most outspoken owner in sports. Now they have one of the quietest. Widely respected within the organization, Steinbrenner emerged as his family’s leader and the caretaker of an empire."
• Joel Sherman on Hal Steinbrenner: "Obviously, winning is the strongest inducement for fans. But part of that four million going through the turnstiles annually was about George Steinbrenner's penchant for making his organization must watch."
• Rob Neyer and Marc Craig both agree that Phil Hughes has been brilliant as a reliever but should ultimately be a starter. And Neyer says something I've been harping: "With all due respect to all the fine and wondrous relievers out there in Baseball Land, isn't Hughes yet another nail in their coffin, value-wise? Good relief pitchers are merely failed starters"
• According to Buster Olney the Yankees have the fourth hardest road to the playoffs in the American League. The good part? The Red Sox have a harder schedule. The bad part? The Rays have an easier schedule. The hardest part: "The Yankees actually have two West Coast trips remaining, including one more visit to their own private hell in Anaheim."
• Chop-n-Change has an interview with Jack-O of Bill Simmon's B.S. Report fame. Heeeerrrrre's Johnny! "The attention I've received from appearing on the BS Report has been kind of surreal, but very, very fun. As Bill and I have commented to each other, the conversations that we have are ones that we would have anyway (although there would probably be more swearing and political incorrectness) so it's funny that people seem to enjoy listening in."
• Erik Boland of Newsday says that despite injuries and inconsistencies, the Yankees are actually in good shape. "For a team that has suffered significant injuries to the lineup (Alex Rodriguez), the rotation (Chien-Ming Wang) and the bullpen (Brian Bruney) and a horrendous early-season slump of one of its three prize free agents (Mark Teixeira), the Yankees enter the second half with the second-best record (51-37) in the American League and lead the wild-card race. Really, that's the bottom line."
• Jon Heyman doesn't think that the Yankees are going to get Roy Halladay because the Blue Jays won't trade within the division. Even if they did, Heyman doesn't think the Yankees want to clear out their farm system of the best prospects: " and/or The Yankees are reluctant to "gut their system,'' according to one rival executive. The Yankees could easily form a nice trade package by including one of two young talented right-handers -- Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes -- plus catching prospect Jesus Montero and outfield prospect Austin Jackson."